COMMENT

IT’S difficult to write objectively about the appalling revelations on

‘Prime Time’ last week. But I’m going to try so here goes.

The wellbeing of our children is a highly emotive issue – and rightly so – and most parents would do anything to protect their little ones. What we witnessed in our living rooms last Tuesday night shocked most of us to the core.

It was a yet another wakeup call for the Government. Despite last year’s referendum on children’s rights, we’ve clearly a long way to go to ensure that the most vulnerable in society are protected by the State. Like most scandals in Ireland, this is a story of light-touch regulation and under-resourced regulatory authorities.

Needless to say, we’ve since been promised a full review of crèche inspections that have been carried out by the HSE. The words locked, stable door, horse and bolted come to mind.

In light of what was uncovered by RTE, it is particularly galling to even contemplate a further cut in child benefit to fund a second year of the Early Childcare Care and Education Scheme (ECCE). Personally I find the thoughts of my taxes contributing to the profits of badly run crèches repugnant and I’m sure I’m not alone in that way of thinking after the

‘Prime Time’ exposé.

But let’s not lose the run of ourselves either. RTE also found evidence of quality care and good practices, even in the crèches exposed in

‘A Breach of Trust’. And I genuinely believe that the majority of people running or working in our crèches are decent people who are fully committed to the welfare and proper care of our children.

We should not allow their good names and reputations to be tarnished by the actions of a small minority. And let’s hope that it is indeed a case of a few rotten apples within the sector.

Going forward, there are some small, simple changes that need to be put in place. A crèche found to be in breach of child welfare guidelines should be immediately disqualified from the ECCE scheme and any funding already given should be clawed back by the State.

In addition, it should be made compulsory for all childcare businesses to have webcams installed in every room before they are allowed to operate. This would mean that parents could check in on their children at any stage of the day. It would also allow the HSE to keep an eye on things in between inspections.

For now, the gardai and HSE must be allowed to investigate the specific incidents highlighted by the

‘Prime Time’ team and all parties must be afforded due process.

On a final note, RTE deserve much credit for this excellent programme, which was public service broadcasting at its best.